Coming in Second
by wordslinger
Summary: On top of everything else that had gone wrong that day she'd been shouldered with equipment storage – a hated task but at least she could be alone in misery. Her team had lost and she still couldn't believe it. Erza hated losing. Jerza. Complete.


_**Author's Note: For Jelulz based on the following tumblr prompt -**_

 _ **"Imagine that Persons A and B are on rival highschool sports teams. At their first game against each other, they both go in with a "no mercy to the other team" mindset before seeing each other and thinking holy crap they're cute.**_

 _ **One (or all) of the following happens**_

 _ **They get occasionally distracted by the other (caught staring, froze up, etc.)**_ _**They really want to hate each other so badly but holy shitballs they're fucking hot and a kind of love/hate feeling develops**_ _**After the game, they run into each other and there's this massive sexual tension**_

 _ **Bonus points: They get into a heated argument and end up making out in the locker room and exchanging numbers."**_

 _ **It has been altered for my purposes.**_

* * *

Erza tossed the bag of soccer balls into the corner with more force than necessary. On top of everything else that had gone wrong that day she'd been shouldered with equipment storage – a hated task but at least she could be alone in misery. Her team had lost and she still couldn't believe it. Erza _hated_ losing. Three days of tournament games for nothing. This was _his_ fault. She was one-hundred-percent sure the name _Fernandes_ had not been on Crime Sorciere Academy's official roster the night before. How had he managed to appear last minute? Why had he made the game so difficult to focus on? _How could such a formidable player have escaped her knowledge?_ Her questions went unanswered and her state of aggravation unresolved.

The mystery of player number seventeen mattered even less post-game because Fairy Tail Senior High lost in the final round and would only be adding a pitiful second place trophy to its otherwise glittering collection of victories. Erza didn't even want the thing in the cases. Her senior year would forever be tainted by this loss and it was all Jellal Fernandes's fault. Bad enough he'd managed to slip under her radar but he'd poured salt in the wound by being so goddamn attractive. Erza kicked the glob of balls in frustration.

"What did those balls ever do to you?" An unfamiliar voice from behind her teased. Erza whirled around and faced the intruder. _Of course._ She heaved a defeated sigh.

"What are you doing back here? Shouldn't be you be off celebrating your victory?"

Jellal grinned at her and stepped into the storage room. "Probably, but our bus is having a mechanical issue."

She frowned and turned back to the mess of equipment she was supposed to be sorting. Home tournaments could be a real pain in the ass.

"Everything I heard about you is true, by the way. You're an amazing player and _very_ fast. I admit I underestimated you," he said with a complimentary tone she hated.

"A fat lot of good that did me. We still lost." Erza tried to tamp the feeling down but was overcome with irritated curiosity. She spun around and planted her hands on her hips. "And would you mind explaining how you know so much about me but I know nothing about you? Are you a ringer or something?"

Jellal laughed and stepped fully inside the room. Even in the dim yellow light he still made the back of her neck feel hot.

"Not a ringer. I've just been away for a while. It's a shame this is the only time we'll play on the same field."

Erza's fingers dug into the side seams of her jersey. He'd flustered her during the game and he was flustering her now that they were alone. More than once she'd been distracted by the way he moved. So graceful but with a sharp, enviable precision. His smile, though easy in nature, made her heart pound and she didn't want to look at it.

"Yeah, well, that's easy for you to say. Now that I've seen the way you operate there's no way you could beat me again." He continued to smile at her and damn it if her eyes didn't stray to his mouth.

"Soccer is a team sport, Scarlet. Since when did this become about you and me?" Jellal asked in a low voice that resonated somewhere inside of her she didn't want to acknowledge.

"Don't pretend this game wasn't personal from the moment you winked at me on the field, _Fernandes_. That was appallingly unsportsmanlike."

"Be fair. You were sizing me up and flipping your hair before we ever set foot inside the lines." He edged closer to her and reached out to touch the tip of her ponytail that draped over her shoulder. "I enjoyed every flip of your hair, by the way. Your name suits you."

She should've tossed it right out of his fingers but she couldn't. He was close. _Too close_. And he smelled of grass and sweat and her traitorous hands itched to touch him. Someone like him had to be positively solid under his jersey.

"You're doing it again," Erza said doing her best to scowl up at him.

He had the nerve to chuckle but his fingers still had her hair curled around them. "Doing what?"

"Distracting me."

"Am I?"

"You _know –"_ She pushed at his chest but once her hands were there, they wouldn't leave. "You are. You... you're horrible."

Jellal's hand finally settled on the back of her neck and she clenched wads of his jersey in her palms to pull him closer.

"Horrible is a strong word, Scarlet."

"Shut up and kiss me before I change my mind," she breathed out just as his lips crushed hers. Erza squeezed her eyes shut and tried to focus on how much she hated him even more for being such a fantastic kisser. His mouth moved just as skillfully as his body had in play and she found her concentration wasn't just severely impaired but utterly destroyed.

Without hesitation she secured him to her with arms around his neck. His chest was just as muscled as she'd imagined and he was of the perfect height for standing kisses. Simon had always been far too tall and much too gentle. Jellal did not hold back and she knew he'd leave her lips a bright red.

A hand touched lower back and held her steady as he turned to press her into the only space of concrete wall that wasn't lined with shelves. Jellal's fingers wormed their way into the hair at the base of her neck and loosened her ponytail. Erza's heart rate spiked when his tongue brushed against her lips and she didn't even try to silence the whimper of pleasure that escaped.

She wanted to wrap her legs around his waist and yank his jersey off. She wanted him to drag his fingers through her hair and leave his mark on her neck. She wanted to push him to the floor and...

 _"Jellal!"_

Erza gasped and instead of shoving him away she tightened her grip on his shoulders. Jellal was breathing heavily and glanced behind him.

"Shit," he mumbled as he looked down at her again. "I guess that's my cue." He stepped back from her and ran his hands over the front of his jersey.

"Jellal!" A dark haired girl peeked into the storage room and shot them both a knowing smirk. "It's time to go. The bus is fixed. Stop fucking around."

"I'll be right there, Ultear." The girl disappeared and Jellal grinned at Erza once more in the same disarming way. "Looks like this is goodbye, Scarlet."

"So you just barged in here to get a feel and now you're leaving? Typical."

Jellal laughed and touched what was left of her previously tidy ponytail. "I have a bus to catch. It's not by choice."

Erza huffed and pushed past him to the coach's desk. She grabbed a marker from the lap drawer and snatched Jellal's hand. Their uniforms did not have pockets and she wasn't about to let him just leave.

"Here," she snapped as she quickly scrawled her phone number on his wrist. "We can finish this another time."

"So forward," he teased with a wink. Jellal leaned down to kiss her swiftly once more. "I'll definitely be using this."

Once he'd gone Erza turned to stare at the bag of balls that had offended her only a few minutes before. She found her anger had left her, though. The day hadn't been a total loss and later that evening she got a text from a number she didn't recognize.

 _Goodnight, Scarlet. It's been an exciting day and we'll talk tomorrow. ~ No. 17_

Maybe second place trophies weren't so bad.


End file.
